Apparatus for expressing liquids



N. CRANE 'APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUIDS Filed Feb. 12, 1924 PatentedDec. 25, 1934 UNITED STATE APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING LIQUIDS NewtonCrane, Boston, Mass., asslgnor, by menne assignments, of one-half toGeorge C. Graham. Watertown, Mass.

Application February 12, 1924, Serial No. 692,365

' 11 Claims.

The subject of this invention relates to laundry apparatus and itsobject is to provide a means practically negligible.

In this specification the term clothing term clothes includes wearing-or the apparel, bed

clothing, table linen and all other articles or fabrics made of woven orknitted threads or felted fibers which have to be washed from time totime.

The term laundry includes any part of mestic establishment in whichclothes are washed,-

as well as commercial laundries.

a do- The wringer rolls heretofore widely used for mechanicallyextracting water from wet clothing have lthe practical objection thatthey are liable to stretch the articles, often to their great harm inthe case of delicate and lacy fabrics, and to tear off buttons; and whendriven by power are liable to cau'se injury to the attendant,notwithstanding the safety devices with which s'uch power wringers areequipped. Centrifugal driers, while free from the objections of wringerrolls, are liable to cause objectionable or even destructive vibration,owing to the high speed at which they are run and the difliculty,amounting practically to impossibility, of so distributing the clothingin the rotatable drum or basket as to balance perfectly on all sides ofthe axis of rotation apparatus in which The this invention is embodiedavoids the drawbacks of both these prior types of ibly in directionssurfaces of the mass of clothing, without tion.

apparatus in that it acts by exerting pressure ilexsubstantially normalto the vibra- The nature of the invention and the characteristics whichI claim as new are further described in the following specification inconnection with the accompanying drawing?- Figure 1 is an elevation withparts broken away and shown in section, of one form of my improved waterexpressing apparatus showing the cover element, or upper portion thereofpartially opened.

Figure 2 is an elevationshowing the apparatus closed and illustrating bydotted lines its condition at the end of the pressing action upon asmall charge of clothing.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the apparatus Figure 4 is a diagramillustrating the principle of means for applying and relieving pressurewith-l in the apparatus, and for exhausting vapor from.

thue- Like reference characters designate like parts wherever they occurin all the gures.

It should be understood at the outset that in many respects theapparatus which I am about to describe in detail is illustrative ortypical of t the various principles of the invention, and while theforms of the various features herein illustrated are considered in somerespects preferable to other possible forms, they are not exclusive ofall others.

The main body of the apparatus comprises a shell or casing which ispreferably spherical on account of the strength and the absence ofcorners and angles given by that form. Such shell is adapted to beopened and closed for reception, l5 retention, and removal of clothing,and isV preferably divided into two equal parts with the line ofdivision at the equator of the sphere, this construction being thesimplest and most feasible one for enabling the clothing to be placed inand 20 removed from the apparatus, and for strength. Hence, the twoparts of the shell preferably comprise a lower hemisphere 5 and an upperhemisphere 6, separable from one another to the extent necessary tolinsert and remove clothing, but 25 preferably connected in a way whichwill allow them to be easily separated and brought together. Onepossible and satisfactory means for securely locking the hemispherestogether to withstand the internal pressure consists of hooks or lugs'7, 3o which are provided on the rim of the upper hemisphere and offsetso as to pass through slots 8 in an .outwardly projecting web 9 on therim of the lower hemisphere. I prefer to providel also a flange l0 atthe circumference of the web 9 to em- 35 brace the hooks and givestrength to this web. By placing the upper part of the shell on thelower part and inserting the hooks '1 through the slots 8, and thengiving the upper part a partial turn, the two parts of the shell can besecurely 40 locked together.

For permanently connecting the parts together with provision for theirseparation in the manner indicated I prefer to use a pintle rod 11concentric with the center of the shell. which is secured 45 to thelower hemisphere by a bracket 12 and passes through eyes 13 on a bracket14 secured to the upper hemisphere. The pintle rod is enough longer thanthe distance between the outer sides of the eyes 13 to permit thenecessary 50 angular movement for locking and releasing the hooks; andthe holes in the eyes are free enough on the pintle to permit swingingof the upper hemisphere about the pintle in spite of the curvature ofthe latter. Preferably the brackets 12 55 and 14 are provided withcomplemental stops 15 and 16 arranged to support the upper hemispherewhen turned back from the lower hemisphere.

At the bottom of the lower hemisphere is an outlet 17 for discharge ofthe expressed water, and within the shell is a rigid perforated strainerplate 18 which overlies the outlet to prevent the clothing being forcedinto the latter, and with sufficient clearance to permit free escape ofthe water.

The outlet is formed in a tube or lug 19 of an external attached fitting20, such lug forming one member of a clamp adapted to mount theapparatus on a supporting structure 21, such as the edge of a laundrytub or washing machine, or whatnot. A complemental clamp 22 is mountedon a screw 23 which is threaded through a lug 24 on the same fitting.The clamping and supporting means need only be strong and rigid enoughto support the weight of the apparatus and its load of wet clothes, forall stresses of pressure application and reaction are absorbed in theshell without transmission in any degree to the support.

In the upper hemisphere of the shell is mounted the pressing member 25which is preferably a bag or bladder of flexible and distensiblewaterimpervious material. I prefer to use rubber composition, with orwithout embedded strengthening fabric as the material for this bag, andto mold the bag into substantialiy the form shown, where one side isconvex fitting the interior of the shell throughout nearly the whole ofthe upper hemisphere thereof, and the other side is con cave toward theinlet from its rim or circumference, which lies approximately at themedial plane of the shell, the plane where the division between the twohemispheres occurs. Such concave side is preferably made with enoughinherent stiffness to tend to hold and resume its shape when free frominternal pressure, thus leaving the greater part of the interior of theshell free to receive wet clothing.

I prefer to form a large opening 26 in the middle of the convex side ofthe bag, and to surround such opening with a rib or -bead 27. A nippleor tube 28 having at one end a wide flange 29, equipped at its rim witha groove 30 complemental to the rib 27, is placed in the bag as shown inFigure 1, and passed through a hole in the shell where it is secured bya nut 31 screwed upon its threaded exterior. By this means the bag maybe secured and pressed tightly against vthe shell so as to preventleakage of liquid or other uid forced into its interior.

In using the apparatus for its intended purpose, wet clothing is placedin the lower half of the open shell, in which it may be heaped up to avolume approximately equal to the space in the upper half of the shellsubtended by the concave side of the bag. Then the shell is closed andlocked as before described; but before closing the shell I prefer toplace in it a packing means to confine the clothing and prevent leakageof water through the joint between the two hemispheres. The possibilityof escape of water through this joint occurs from the fact that thefirst pressure exerted against the highest part of the mass of clotheswill cause water to rise around the mass faster than it can escapethrough the y outlet, and flood the joint; while the fact that theinternal pressure tends to force the two parts of the shell away fromone another makes it not feasible to close the joint tightly enough toprevent leakage under high internal pressure,

A simple and practical packing means which I have found effective forthis purpose consists of a blanket 32 of flexible water-imperviousmaterial, preferably including rubber in vits composition, which isinitially shaped with a generally sphericalcurvature as shown in Figure1, so that when placed over a heaped up mass of clothes in the lowerpart of the shell its edges will enter between the mass and the shellbelow the upper rim thereof.

The shell being now filled, packed and closed, fluid under pressure isadmitted to the flexible bag. While any uid which will not injure thebag may be used for this purpose, the most convenient; and inexpensiveone to use is water derived from the community water supply, when suchis available, or water under pressure otherwise imposed. For domesticuse, in vwhich the apparatus is employed infrequently (as compared withcommercial laundries) water derived from the city water supply atpressure of, around fifty or sixty pounds is by far the best source ofpressure; but for commercial laundries, in which the extractor is innearly continuous use, it may be more economical to employ a constantquantity of water or other fluid upon which pressure is imposed by apump.

From whatever source derived, the pressure within the bag forces itslower surface against the mass of clothing, and progressively conformsthe surface of the bag exactly to the surface of the clothing, exertinguniform pressure over the whole mass of an intensity equal to thepressure at which the fluid is supplied. The water held in the wetclothing is thus rapidly and evenly pressed out. I have found that whenusing water at sixty pounds per square inch as the pressure fluid, asmuch of the contained water can be pressed from the clothing as is doneby the best wringers of the roller type. The employment of higherpressures of course results in a greater proportion of the water beingpressed out.

The bag is prevented from injury due to abrasion in rubbing over themass of cloth by the blanket 32, which, having a higher coeicient offriction upon the bag than upon the wet clothing, moves with the surfaceof the bag over the clothing as the shape and position of the clothingmass changes under the application of pressure and with the discharge ofthe water.

Preferably the distensible and collapsible side of the bag (that is itsend or concave wall) is of graduated thickness in order to distributethe stretching, if any, to which it may be subjected by the internalfluid pressure. Such graduation of thickness is indicated illustrativelyin an exaggerated way in Figure 1. Stretching of the ccnvex wall of thebag is substantially prevented by the -frictiona1 engagement of thatwall with the shell, against which it is held under the full pressure ofthe contained fluid.

.It is plain from the foregoing description and the drawing that thepart of the bag hereinbefore referred to as its concave side, or inother words, its distensible and collapsible side, contains asufflciency of material, greater than the amount required merely toextend across the middle part of the shell, and is sufficientlyflexible, to lie close to that part of the shell through which the inletopens, when the water is withdrawn from the bag, and to be distendedinto 'close proximity to the opposite half of the shell. 'I'hat is, thebag when distendedis enabled to flll substantially the entire interiorof the shell. In Figure 2 of the drawstantially coextensive with ing thebag is partly distended, leaving a relatively small space `in which theclothing is contained;

. and it is to be understood that if a smaller quantity of clothing thanthat here indicated is placed in the shell, the distended bag will morecompletely illl the interior of the shell, even to .the extent ofentirely filling it when there is no clothing therein. v

The concave o distensible side ofthe bag is essentially a diaphragm orpartition which divides the interior of the shell into two chambers orspaces, one -of which receives the clothing to be dried while the otherreceives the water or other fluid which applies pressure upon suchclothing. Owing to the excess material contained in. such diaphragm, andthe way in which it is preferably shaped or molded, concave-convex formwith substantially spherical curvature nearly enough conforming to theshell to enable either of such spaces to become subthe entire internalvolume of the shell. The positions of the diaphragm when collapsedtoward theinlet and expanded toward the outlet, respectively, aresubstantially on opposite sides of a medial plane of the shell, and ineach position the diaphragm is smooth and free from wrinkles.

By virtue of the characteristics hereinbefore described, the pressure ofthe werking fluid upon the confined mass of clothing is most effectivelyapplied and is distributed in a substantially uniform manner over thewhole mass. The spherical form of the shell eliminates corners or anglesin which parts of the clothing might enter and fail to receive the fullextent of the squeezing pressure. The flexibility and distensiblity ofthe diaphragm enable it to follow the receding mass of clothing andconform to all irregularities in the surface lof the mass, enabling asgreat a pressure to be applied to those parts of the mass in which thereis a smaller number of thicknesses or plies of clothing, as to the partswhere a greater nurnber of plies or folds or thicknesses of clothing maybe bunched together so as to make a harder mass. All the articles actedupon, and all parts of such articles are thus equally dried and whentaken out have no areas which are wetter` than other parts. And thediaphragm is able to change its position without forming overlappingfolds and wrinkles sumcient to pinch and bind portions of the diaphragmin such mannerthat they would be excessively stressed and torn or brokenunder pressure of the working fluid with continued recession of the massof clothing.

4Although in the foregoing description I have referred to one of the andto the other asthe lower hemisphere, and have described certain adjunctsas being connected to one or the other of 'these specic hernispheres, itis to be understood that such description is for convenience 'andbrevity only vand hasno limiting eiect. It is within my contemplationthat all of the adjuncts and fittings may be reversed from therelations. here shown, and that the whole machine may be reversed, ifdesired, and arranged to receive the pressure-applying fluid from thebottom and. discharge the extracted liquid from the top. The positionand arrangement of the whole device or of its constituent parts shown inthe drawing is not an essential factor of this invention, but may bemodified in many ways within the scope of the protection which I claim.So also may alternative and equivalent constructions for the details ofthe apparatus be substituted for those shown.

it has a normallyhemispheres as the upper,v

A shown diagrammatically an operative means for filling and exhaustingthe pressure applying bag, for augmenting the pressure applied therebyand for exhausting the shell of vapor. This diagram illustrates theprinciples of the means which I prefer to use for the purposes stated,although it does not show the mechanical structure of the various means.Such structure, however, is available from knowledge of those skilled inthe arts to which the various means herein illustrated relate.

In the diagram a pipe 33 is shown as running from the supply nipple ofthe extractor to a source of pressure, herein typifled by a water tap 34which may be the water faucet of a. laundry tub or a sink. The pipe 33should be flexible or articulated in part, or readily detachable fromthe shell, in order to permit the cover part of the shell to be opened.A three-way cock 35 having an ejector nozzle 36 at one end of itsthrough passage typifles means for directing water into the bag and forexhausting the bag. When the cock is in the position here shown thewater-jet from the nozzle 36 exhausts the water from the presser bag,thereby enabling the shell to be opened quickly after the clothes havebeen squeezed; but when the cock is turned so that its branch 3'1registers with the inlet passage 38, water flows into the bag. The pipe39 represents a by-pass leading from the discharge outlet of the shellto the ejector valve 35. Its connection with the ejector valve iscontrolled by a cock 40 and its connection with the shell outlet iscontrolled by a cock 4l. These cocks may be set-so .as to connect thepipe 39 with the outlet 17 and close the latter to the outer air, thusconnecting the by-pass with the interior of the shell. The cock 40 canbe set to connect the by-pass with the ejector valve and shut off thepassage from the latter to the presser bag. Then the ejector willexhaust vapor from the shell during the persistence of pressure upon theclothing, thus adding the effect of diminished vapor pressure to theeffect of direct mechanical pressure in drying the clothes. A pressuregreater than that of the water supply may be exerted through the agencyof a device 42 in the nature of a hydraulic press containing adifferentialpiston 43, 44, the smaller area of which is connected withthe presser bag 25 by a pipe 45 and the larger area of which is exposedto the water supply pressure through a branchk or by-pass pipe 46controlled by a threeway cock 47. After filling the bag and compressingthe clothes to the full pressure of the water supply with the cock 4'7in the position shown in Figure 4, this cock may then be turned toregister its branch 48 with the water supply, whereupon pressure isexerted upon the large area of the piston and transmitted withmultiplied effect to the presser bag. Since by this time most of thewater has been pressed out of the clothes and the latter have beenreduced to their most compact volume, the full effect of the multipliedpressure may be exerted with transfer of but very little water from thesmaller area chamber of the differential pressure apparatus, and thestroke of the differential piston may be made long enough to supply thissmall additional amount.

Either or both of the means typified by the pressure multiplying deviceand the vapor exhausting by-pass may be used in conjunction with therest of the apparatus illustrated or both may be omitted without ness ofthe water extractor as such.

I have yshown at 49 an air chamber or dome In Figure 4 I have connectedin the piping between the valve 47 and.

affecting the effectivethe shell, adapted to entrap and confine a smallquantity of air under pressure. Ordinarily the confined and compressedbody of air is'unnecessary, but in case a slight leak should develop inthe bag, the compressed air would be effective to maintain the pressurefor the short time required to exhaust vapor from the shell, suchexhausting action being carried out by the ejector element and while thevalves are set to close the connection between the bag and the source ofpressure.

An apparatus of the nature here described may be made in various sizesand capacities according to use required. On account oi' the largevolume in proportion to the diameter of a sphere, and the great strengthof its shell, large quantities of clothing may be handled with anapparatus of relatively very small diameter and light weight. Since itsaction is one of compression only, it does no harm whatever to theclothes in expressing the water; and since the tomes acting are nearlystatic, there is no tendency to vibration. Neither is there any need ofcarefully packing the clothes, but they can be heaped into the ,shellwithout taking any care whatever as to their distribution, otherwisethan to see that they do not trail over the edge of the lower part andthat the packing blanket 32, when used is placed within the rim of thispart.

, The shell is preferably made of metal which is not corrodible bywater, such as brass, copper or aluminum, etc., but it may be made ofiron or steel galvanized or plated with non-corrodible metal. It can beconveniently and cheaply made by known methods of drawing or pressingsheet metal, or in proper cases may be made by metal founding methods.

The foregoing description explains in principle and detail a preferredform of apparatus intended for laundry purposes. 'Ihe same apparatus, orequivalent 'apparatus embodying the same fundamental principles, may beapplied to other and more or less analogous uses for pressing otherliquids than water from other materials than clothing.

Certain of the elements and combinations embodied in the apparatusherein disclosed may also be employed and combined in other forms andarrangements. Thus for instance the shell may be of other forms thanspherical in situations where it is feasible to dispense with theadvantages of maximum volume with minimum dimensions and weight peculiarto the sphere. Hence the term shell as used in this specification is tobe construed as including any container or chamber adapted to conneclothing while being compressed, substantially asherein described. Andfor further instance, the pressing means here embodied in the bag mayhave other forms, arrangements and modes of action. Essentially the bagis a diaphragm of special form adapted to conform itself to the changingsurface of the mass against which it presses. Although I prefer to usean elastic diaphragm or bag, I may use one which is merely flexible anddistensible without capacity for stretching, as may readily be done bygivingthe diaphragm sumcient bagginess or slack to permit of itsconforming to vthe surface of the mass. In a broader view the bag ordiaphragm is essentially a flexible and yieldable presser adapted to bebrought and pressed by external force against the matter operated upon,and to change, as to its surface contours, in conformity-` with thechanging contours of the mass being pressed, and in this view an elementequivalent to the bag or diaphragm may be made of dierent character tobe operated in a diierent way within a shell of other than sphericalform. It should be understood then that within the meaning of the termpresser as used in the following claims, I include not only the bag hereshown, but other kinds of diaphragms as well. The blanket 32 is anotherelement having functions which may be performed in other forms ofapparatus and in connection with other forms of presser ,than thatshown, or by equivalent elements of other form and construction. It maybe generically defined as a cover or packing which lies between thefluid .impregnated material in the shell and the walls of the shell,particularly the joints in the shell between its separable parts, orbetween such material and the presser. When used in commotion with apresser it is effective not only to prevent leakage of water'through thejoint in the shell, but also to prevent water and parts of the conilnedmaterial from getting between the presser and the lateral walls of theshell. It would equally serve this function in combination with asliding presser in a shell of uniform diameter.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

l. A'laundry apparatus for the extraction of water from wet clothing,comprising a substantially spherical shell divided into separable parts,means for detachably connecting said parts together, and a distensiblebag secured in one of said separable parts and having an inlet openingthrough the wall of the shell for the reception of fluid under pressure,the 'other of said parts having an outlet for discharge of the waterexpressed from wet clothing placed in the shell, said bag having itsside away from the inlet constructed to assume a concave condition whenthe bag is free of internal pressure, and to be bulged by internalpressure into approximate conformity with the interior of the shellremote from the inlet. I

2. A laundry apparatus for the extraction of water from wet clothingcomprising a substantiallyfspherical shell having an inlet at one sideand an outlet at the opposite side, a flexible diaphragm mounted in theshell in a manner to provide a liquid-impervious partition between theinlet and the outlet, said diaphragm dividing the interior of the shellinto a pressure-receiving space into which said inlet opens and aclothingreceiving space from which said outlet leads, and the diaphragmbeing located with its circumference near the medial plane of the shelland having suillcient flexibility and a sufliciency of material topermit of being collapsed toward I the inlet from said medial plane andof being flexed across such plane toward the outlet, into substantialconformity with the interior of the shell; and said shell havingprovisions for being opened to receive wet clothing in saidclothingreceiving space.

3. A laundry apparatus for extraction of water from wet clothingcomprising a shell divided into separable and connectible parts, adiaphragm mounted within said shell with its rim adjacent to the planeof division between said parts, dividing the interior of the shell intotwo chambers and being formed with suiilcient bagginess and capacity fordistension to occupy positions conforming approximately to the interiorshape of the shell at respectively opposite sides of said plane.

4. A laundry apparatus for expressing liquid from wet clothingcomprising a shell adapted to contain a mass of such clothing and havingprovision for being opened and closed to receive and confine theclothing, the shell having an inlet at one side of a medial plane and anoutlet at the opposite side of such plane, and a diaphragm arranged inthe shell between said inlet and outlet, said diaphragm having a shapeand sutilcency of material which causes it, when free from pressureapplication, to assume a concave formation near to the walls of theshell between said plane and the inlet, and to be displaced by fluidpressure into a convex form similar to the shell at the opposite side ofsaid plane.

5. A liquid expressing apparatus for laundry and similar uses,comprising a shell adapted to corinne a mass of liquid-impregnatedclothing material, a presser arranged to press against the mass soconfined, and a packing arranged between the mass and the presser incontact at its periphery with the walls of the shell.

6. A liquid expressing apparatus adapted to conne a mass of liquidimpregnated material, comprising a shell, having an inlet and an outletat respectively opposite extremities, a movable presser within saidshell between said inlet and outlet dividing the interior of the shellinto a pressure fluid-receiving space and a materialreceiving space,said presser being movable by pressure iluid to compress liquidimpregnated material placed in the latter space, and a packing extendingacross the shell between said presser and the outlet in contact at itsperiphery with the wall of the shell and being directed at its peripheryaway from the presser.

'7. A laundry. apparatus for expressing water from .wet lclothingcomprising a shell divided equatorially into two hemispheres havingseparable engaging means for separably securing them together, one ofsaid hemispheres having an outlet and the other having an inlet, aflexible and distensible diaphragm mounted in the latter hemisphere soas to define a space of variable volume into which said inlet opens, theentire space in both hemispheres at the opposite side of said diaphragmbeing available for reception ot wet clothing, and a packing memberarranged within the shell and betweenthe wet clothing at one side andthe joint between the hemispheres at the opposite side, whereby toprevent discharge through said joint of the water expressed from theclothing.

8. Alaundry apparatus for the extraction of water from wet clothing,comprising a shell having means for opening and closing it to receiveand confine wet clothing, said shell having an inlet for pressure fluidat one side and a water outlet at the other side of a medial plane, anda flexible diaphragm arranged within the shell between said inlet andoutlet to divide the interior of the shell into two chambers, saiddiaphragm'being water impervious, elastic and resilient, and having aninitial set from its rim portion near said medial plane toward that sideof the shell in which said inlet opens.

9. A shell having a space adapted to receive a mass ofliquid-impermeated material and an outlet from said space, and havingalso a uid receiving space and. an inlet opening thereto, an imperviousvpresser between said spaces movable by fluid pressure in the secondnamed space to press against material placed in the lrst named space, incombination with a conduit arrangedV to lead fluid under pressure tosaid inlet and having a discharge branch, an ejector, and means fordirecting fluid under pressure either through said conduit to the shellor through said ejector and outlet branch, the ejector being arranged toexhaust iluid from said second named space.

'10. In combination with a conduit of liquid under pressure, a liquidexpressing apparatus having a pressure-moved diaphragm, and connectionsincluding a three-way valve between said conduit and said expressingapparatus; said three-way valve having a discharge outlet and havingpassages, including an ejector nozzle arranged to exhaust liquid fromthe expressing apparatus.

11. A laundry apparatus for extraction of water from wet clothingycomprising a substantially spherical shell having an inlet and anoutlet, and a water impervious flexible and elastic diaphragm arrangedwithin the shell and dividing it into two chambers, into one of hichchambers the inlet opens and from the other of which the outlet leads,said diaphragm having a concavo-convex formation adapted to be set overvtoward either the inlet or the outlet.

' NEWTON CRANE.

